Danish researchers studied 20 recreational runners and 22 professional ice hockey players to determine the frequency of bone marrow edema in the sacroiliac joint. The runners received MRI scans of their sacroiliac joints before and 24 hours after a 6.2-km competitive run, and the hockey players received scans at the end of their competitive season.

The proportion fulfilling the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) definition concordantly by ≥2/3 readers was 30%-35%/41%, respectively. The posterior lower ilium was the single most affected sacroiliac joint, followed by the anterior upper sacrum. Erosions were absent and may be the key for discriminating disease from normal variations, the researchers said.

Jack Cush, MD, is the director of clinical rheumatology at the Baylor Research Institute and a professor of medicine and rheumatology at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. He is the executive editor of RheumNow -- a news, information, and commentary site dedicated to the field of rheumatology -- where a version of this article first appeared. Register to receive the site's free rheumatology newsletter.

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